Sears Holdings goes far afield for new board member

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HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — New York Mets baseball executive Paul DePodesta is the newest member of the Sears Holdings board.

Although his qualifications are somewhat unconventional, DePodesta was elected to the board because his experience as VP of player development and amateur scouting for the Mets is believe to help Sears Holdings in the area of personnel development.

"We are pleased to add the strong analytical skills and talent assessment acumen of Paul DePodesta to our board of directors. As Sears Holdings continues the work of transforming and strengthening our company, we look forward to his leadership and contributions," said Sears Holdings chairman Edward S. Lampert. "Mr. DePodesta's ability to scrutinize data and use it to assess talent and drive execution makes him ideally suited to join our board."

Prior to joining the Mets, DePodesta was the EVP of the San Diego Padres, and the EVP and GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he became the third-youngest person to be named GM in Major League history. Previously, he served as the assistant GM of the Oakland Athletics and began his baseball career with the Cleveland Indians.

DePodesta graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in economics. His election to the board increases the number of Sears Holdings' directors to eight.